Trump Wants to Rename Football & FBI Deputy Director Admits He Lied for Money
December 19, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: This is the most minimalist quote I have ever done.
Kennedy Center Boss Loses It After Dismal Ticket Sales Leaked: Once the shining showcase of American cultural achievement, the Kennedy Center has become a sleazy hangout for MAGA-branded performers.
Is it ‘soccer’ or ‘football’? President Trump wants to rename the NFL: In order to pander to FIFA for giving him a substitute Peace Prize, Trump wants to rename American football.
‘Mother of God’: Stephanie Ruhle Blown Away When Speaker Johnson Says Women Can’t Mentally ‘Compartmentalize’: Oh, American women, how much more of this will you endure?
Bongino Makes Jaw-Dropping Admission About His Unhinged Conspiracies: The second in command of the FBI admits he openly lied to the public as a podcaster. Now he wants us to believe him.
Video Break: When you’ve been away for a while, this is just the kind of homecoming you need.
Kareem’s Kvetching Korner: University of Oklahoma Student Is Justifiably Shocked at Sudden Expectation She Be a Good Writer: A college student wrote a bad paper. Her instructor overreacted because she made it about religion.
What I’m Watching: Jay Kelly with George Clooney isn’t as deep as it wants to be, but is still pretty entertaining, thanks to Clooney’s charm and Adam Sandler’s presence. Reflection in a Dead Diamond is an art film masquerading as a spy thriller about the thin veneer of reality .
Magical Moments in Sports: This kind of effort is what inspires the rest of us to try harder.
Vince Guaraldi Trio Plays “Christmas Time Is Here”: My favorite Christmas song always puts me in the holiday mood.
Holiday Note: I’ll be taking a few days off to spend the holidays with my family. But I’ll be back with a new newsletter on December 30.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
No.
Rosa Parks
In December 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks sat on bus No. 2857 on her way home from work. The bus driver was familiar to Parks because years earlier he had made her exit the bus after she’d entered through the door reserved for Whites and told her she had to enter the door marked for Coloreds. But when she exited to do so, he pulled away, leaving her behind. She also knew that he carried a gun.
The rules of the bus company were that when the bus was full, Black people had to give up their seats to White passengers. That day, Parks did not get up. The bus driver glared at her and asked, “Are you going to stand up?”
Parks simply said, “No.”
She did not realize that her “No” would change the world. As she wrote in her autobiography:
As I sat there, I tried not to think about what might happen. I knew that anything was possible. I could be manhandled or beaten. I could be arrested. People have asked me if it occurred to me then that I could be the test case the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] had been looking for. I did not think about that at all. In fact if I had let myself think too deeply about what might happen to me, I might have gotten off the bus.
The power of “No” can be life-changing, not just on a socio-political level, but also on a personal level.
On the political level, we’re all facing an administration that has defied not just the Constitution and the law, but also the country’s moral principles. With each day we get closer to becoming like newscaster Howard Beale in the 1976 movie Network when he shouts in frustration at the corruption all around him, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” (Watch the clip above and see how everything he’s saying still applies today.)
The only way to stop Trump’s looting of democracy is to say “no,” however you choose to express that word. Through voting, through boycotting, through protesting.
On a personal level, “no” can be even harder to say. The tyrannical boss who demands more and more. The overbearing parent who wields guilt like a saber. The friends, family, and lovers who exploit your people-pleasing personality. Even they need to hear the word “no” sometimes.
“No” is a scary word. It means you are about to embark on an unpredictable journey that might be rougher than the comfort of complacency. But woe to the person unable to say “no” out of fear, because then fear will squeeze you in its fist for the rest of your life.
